Empirical Resources

One of the main challenges in working with values is that in many situations our behaviour is driven by implicit values that may be very different from our explicit values: what we do looks very different from what we say.

Empirical and philosophical methods often work well together. Austin, one of the founder figures of the Oxford School, was indeed an advocate of teamwork between philosophers and experts in other disciplines.

Colombo’s Models Project described in the next section is a case in point. It employs empirical social science methods of data collection. But its links with values-based practice are by way of an analytic (ordinary language) philosophical interpretation of its findings.

The empirical methods described in this section of the Reading Guide should thus be read throughout as partners to the philosophical methods covered earlier.